West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-06-16

Hamilton sound asleep on their iron paws and
instead OF raising money 70 keep enemies out
OF our New YORK harbor, raising money for
the BarthOldi Statue on Bedloe's island figure
OF Liberty with uplifted torch 10
light the way 10 all who want TO come i'm
Instead of war antipathics. when YOU could
without lighting your way with keen steel
or getting through by passes carefully scruti-
nized at every step by bayonets, you need
only railroad ticket from New York 70
Charleston or New Orleans 10 90 clear
through, and there is no use for any weapon
sharper or stronger than a steel pen Sin e
the years OF time began their roll has there
sver been in about two decades such an over
mastering antitheSis as between the war time
OF complete bitterness AMI this time OF com
pletc sympathyi
Contrast also tho domestic life Of those
times with the domestic life of these times
Many of you were either leaving homo or Tar
away from II. communicating by uncertain
letters. What morning that was when YOU
left home Father and mother crying, sis
tciS crying, you smiling outside but crying
inside. Everybody nervous and excited
Boys of the blue and gray Whether you
started from the banks of the Hudson, or
tho Savannah, or the Androscoggin, don't
you remember the scenes at the front door
at the rail car window, on the steamboat
landing The hulza could not drown out the
suppressed sadness. Don't YOU remember
those charges 20 write home often and take
care OF yourself. bc good boys and tho good
bye kiss which they thought aud Won tb6nrb,
might be forever Then the homesickneSs rs
you faced the river bank on u starlight night
on picket duty and the sly tears which Won
wiped OIL when you heard a group at the
camp lire singing the plantation song about
the old folks at home The din
ner OF hard tack on Thanksgiving
day and the Christmas without any presents
and the long nights in the hospital so differ
ent from the sickness when you were nj home
with mother and sister at the bedside. and
the clock I'm the hall giving the exact moment
Tor the medicine, and that forced march
When your legs achcd and your head ached
ana Your wounds ached, and. more than all
your heart achcd. Homesicllness that had i'm
~ n suhocation and pang worse than death
You never got hardened as did the guardsman
homo 10 his mother:
Il do not want TO see any more crying let
ters come TO the Crimea from YOU. Those
nave received put into my rife after load
ing II and have fired them at the Russians
because you appear 20 have a strong dislike
OF them. If you have seen as many killed rs
l have, you would not have as many weak
ideas as you now have"
You never felt like that When n soldiers
knapsack was found after his death in our
American war there was generally n careful
package containing n Bible, n few photo
graphs and letters from home. On the other
hand tens OF thousands of homes waited for
news. Parents saying: Twenty thousand
killed. wonder if our boy was among
them" Painting dead away in postonice5
ana telegraph stations Both the ears of
God filled with the sObs and agonies Of kim
dred waiting for news or dropping under
the announcement of bad news. Speak
swamps of Chickahominy and midnight la
goons and hre-rafts of the Mississippi and
gunboats before Vicksburg, and woods of
Antietam, and tell TO all the mountains and
villages and rivers and lakes of North and
south Jeremiads OF war times that have
never been sylabed.
Beside that domestic perturbation and
homeSickneSs Of those days put the sweet
uonestlclty OF today. The only camp fire
younow ever sit at Is the one kindled i'm stove
or furnace or hearth. Instead OF a half ration
or salt pork, a repast luxuriant because
part8kcn OF 10y loving family circles i'm secret
condolences. On, now 1 see who those
letters were for, the letters you, the
young soldier, took so long in your
tent to write and that you were so
particular TO put in the mail without anyone
seeing you lest you be teazed by your com.
rades: God spared you 10 get back Though
the old people have gone you have a home OF
yonr own construction, and you often contrast
those awful absences of filiaI and brotherlv
and loverly heartbrCaks, with your pres
ent residence, which is the dearest place Won
VIII lind this side of heaven, the place where
your children were born and the place yvbera
you want TO die. To write the figures 1852
set up four crystals of tears. TO write tho
hgures 1897 stand up four members of your
household, figures of rosy cheeks and naxen
hair, II l can get them TO stand still long
enough
Living soldiers Of the North andSouth. take
new and special ordination at this season OF
the year 20 garland the sepulchres of your
Iallen comrades Nothing is too good for
their memories Turn all the private tonbs
and the national cemeteries into gardens We
dead OF Malvern Hill, ard Cold Harbor. and
MurfreesbOrO, and Manassas Junction. and
Cumberland Gap, and field and hospital re
ceive these floral offerings of the living sol
diery.
But they shall come again. all the dead
troops. We sometimes talk about earthly
military reviews, such as took place i'm Paris.
IN the time OF Marshal Ncy, In London. i'm
the tIme OF wellington, and in our own land
but what tame things compared with the
final review, when all the armies OF the aces
snail pass for divine and ang Tic inspection
81. John says the armies Of heaven ride on
white horses, and / don't know but
some OF the old cavalry horses of
earthly battle that were wounded and worn
out in service may have resurrection. IL
would be only fair that raised up and en-
nObled, they would be rcsurrected for the
grand review OF the Judgment Day II
IL would not take any more power 20 recon
struct their bodies than 10 reconstruct ours
anu should be very glad to see them among
- white horses Of ApOralyptc vision. liza
70 the trumpet blast the reyeilIe OF
the last judgment They come tIp. All the
ftl l'til'A1 anu III Hulrn
ever side they fought, whether for freedom
or despOtism, for the right or the wrong
ihey come They come Darius and Cyrus
ana Sennacherlb, and joshua and David
leading forth the armies OF Scriptural
LImes. HANNIBAL and Hamilcar leading
ioith the armies Of the Carthaginians
victor Emanuel and Garibaldi leading ON the
armies Of the Italians Tamcr'ano and
Lhcngis Khan followed by tho armics Of Asia
Tu.tavus Adolphus and Ptoiemv philopatcr.
anu NerNe7, anil Alexander, and Somiramis.
anu w Washington leading battalion after bat.
"a ION. The dead American armies Of 117f
ana lSlS. and one million n NorthoTn and
southern dead in our civil war They come
up they pass ON Don review The six million
Iaiien in NapOleonie battle. the twelve million
Lerm1ns fallen boo tho thirty years war the
hltesn million fallen boo the war under Scsos.
uls. tho twenty million fallen I'm the wars OF
tustniun, the twenty five million fallen Inn
jewish wars, the eighty million fallen 900 tho
cru-ndes tnc $50 million fallen in tine wars
with caraceus and Turks The thirtv-fve
billion men estimated to have fallen in battle
enough according 10 one stat.stician. NJ tlcy
sto}d Tour abreast, TO reach clear around tho
earth ~ times
, But We shall have time - sec them uasg ip
eview before the throne Of Judgment IN,
hvnIrYmon. the artillery men the sucar
men, the infantry. the sharp shooters. n
Eunlers tne appc-7 the miners The araHa
the sklrmHnerf. men of alI cOIJrs Of aiI srau.
iet.. Of a'l Fandarie, of alI weap1ury n uI
rnuntucs IHt the earth uo especially baI
an"e1 10 bar their tread Forward Tor
ward Ut the orchestra ~ the heavenly